Holiday Inn Express & Suites Mattoon by IHG

The breakfast was the real surprise here. Everything looked plentiful and delicious, and the woman preparing it was so friendly and clearly cared about her work. The room was clean too, and the staff were nice. I don’t expect much from hotels these days, so that was a pleasant change. The pool was another story, with various things floating in it that were hard to miss. We got mixed answers about the hot tub: first that the jets didn’t work, then that it never got hot, though another staff member had said it did. We were also told there were no plans to fix it. It’s a shame, especially when there isn’t much to do nearby and a clean pool or hot tub is nice to have with kids. A more thorough clean of the pool area and hotel would have made this a perfect stay.

The property is in a great location, and the front desk staff were attentive and courteous. The woman in the breakfast room was pleasant too. Still, the hotel badly needs renovation. The rooms and drapes are dated, the blackout curtains are difficult to close, and the TV was a struggle: the front desk clerk tried to help, then maintenance came the next morning and got the sound working. After that, we still had to use the buttons on the side of the Phillips TV to adjust the volume or turn it off. Housekeeping was very poor during our four-day stay. The showers were dirty, with soap scum and an oily film, and nobody vacuumed. Bathroom tiles had missing grout and some were loose. The business center printer didn’t work either. I’ll choose another hotel next time.

The room was clean, and the hotel was quiet and comfortable, though it could use updates. There are lots of stores and places to eat nearby, which I liked. We only found out after booking that the hotel was closed for maintenance, and that was a big reason we’d picked this one. I understand things happen, but it was frustrating. Service was somewhere between bad and good. When we asked for an extra pillow, the front desk woman said she didn’t know where they were, but would find one and bring it up. She never did.

The worst part was the staff behavior. A woman from what seemed like a family-run cleaning crew sat in the theater room during games, yelling profanities and slurs at the TV for hours. With the paper-thin walls, we could hear every word in our room. When we extended our stay, she got visibly irritated and asked us to switch rooms because she was “done cleaning” ours. We’d just woken up and asked for a moment. The rooms were filthy too. There was grime on the window sills, dust everywhere, splatters and spills on the walls and floor, and dirt caked on top of the fridge. It looked like housekeeping skipped anything out of sight. One room didn’t even have a remote. The yelling and vulgarity made an already unpleasant stay unbearable, and it was one of the most uncomfortable, unprofessional hotel experiences I’ve had.